Grease incinerator



March 26, 1968 A. M. PAPP ETAL GREASE INCINERATOR Filed Jime 17, 1965 T5Sheets-Sheet 1 l NVENTORS Alexander M. Popp 8 Louis P Hine,Jr.

BY M FM ATTORNEY March 26, 1968 Filed June 17, 1965 A. M- PAPP ETALGREASE INCINERATOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 26, 1968 vp pp T GREASEINCINERATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 17, 1965 United States Patent3,375,081 GREASE INCINERATOR Alexander M. Papp, Lorain, and Louis P.Hine, Jr.,

Elyria, Ohio, assignors, by mesne assignments, to

American Gas Association, Inc., New York, N.Y., a

corporation of New York Filed June 17, 1965, Ser. No. 464,638 6 Claims.(Cl. 23277) The present invention relates to grease incineratorapparatus for'the harmless disposal of grease vapors as may be producedin cooking and is an improvement on the apparatus disclosed by U.S.Patent 3,164,445, assigned to the American Gas Association.

-It is well known that the accumulation of the grease that is plated outon vent surfaces or on disposable vent filter structures as used in thecooking areas of restaurants or the like is not only a considerablenuisance, but a definite fire hazard and is one of the principal causesof restaurant .fires. As disclosed by the above-mentioned patent, it hasbeen discovered that a heated surface interposed in the path of flow ofgrease vapors being vented from the cooking area, will incinerate andvaporize the grease particles impinging thereon to form a harmlessnongreasy vapor and thus the plating of grease on the subsequent ventsurfaces is prevented.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improvedgrease incinerator arrangement with which the grease vapors are causedto flow in a particular manner about a cylindrical heated surface toassure the incineration of substantially all of the grease particles inthe vapor before the vapor is passed to and through the subsequentventilation ducts.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an improved greaseincinerator structure having means to positively 'move the grease vaporsto be caused to flow into contact with a cylindrical heated incinerationsurface before being vented.

In accordance with the invention, a housing formed of sheet metal or thelike is provided with an inlet opening and an outlet opening. Baffie andduct means are provided to convey grease vapors through the housing fromthe inlet to the outlet and to form a toroidal chamber within thehousing through which the grease vapors must pass.

from the inlet to the outlet. The toroidal chamber is preferablypositioned below the inlet so that greasy vapors are directed firstdownwardly into the toroidal chamber and then with a circular motionupwardly and again downwardly within the toroidal chamber before beingpassed to the outlet opening. The inner wall of the toroidal chamber isa cylindrical member providing a heated cylindrical surface coaxiallypositioned within the toroidal chamber so that grease particles in thevapor passing through the toroidal chamber will impinge and beincinerated on the heated surface, the products of this incineratorbeing thereafter passed through the outlet opening in a harmlessnongreasy form. A cylindrical gas burner surface is positioned withinthe cylindrical member to thereby heat its cylindrical surface and oneor more suitable vent holes are provided in the heated cylindricalsurface to allow the combustion products from the gas burner to escapeinto and mix with the flow containing the products of incineration ofthe grease vapors. A power fan or blower is provided in the housing,preferably adjacent the outlet opening, to cause a positive flow ofgrease vapors and combustion products through the toroidal chamber in amanner due to the chamber geometry to impinge on the heated surfacewithin the toroidal chamber.

Further objects, features and the attendant advantages of the inventionwill be apparent with reference to the following specification anddrawings in which:

3,375fi8l Patented Mar. 26, 1968 FIG. 1 is a front elevational viewpartly in section and partly broken away;

FIG. 2 is a section on the line II-II of FIG. 1 leaving the fan, motorand supporting bracket in elevation;

FIG. 3 is a detail view of the gas burner and related structure partlyin elevation and partly broken away to show successive elements inelevation; and

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the grease incinerator apparatusof the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, the grease incineratorapparatus iscontained within the closed housing generally designated 10 in FIG. 4and consisting of suitably and conventionally interconnected andsupported imperforate wall panels of sheet metal or other appropriatematerial. Upper front wall 11 and a lower front wall 12 have the inletopening 13 disposed somewhat to the left thereof as viewed in FIG. 4.Side walls 14 and 15 are attached to front walls 11 and 12. As seen inFIG. 2 bottom wall 16 is connected to side walls 14 and 15 and frontwall 12, an upper wall 17 is connected to side walls 14 and 15 and frontwall 11 (FIG. 2), and a closed back wall 18 is connected to the walls14, 15, 16 and 17. The upper Wall 17 is provided with an outlet opening19 and a screened opening 20 which will be later referred to in moredetail.

The interior of the housing 10 is divided by various wall and partitionmembers extending between and supported on outside wall 15 and interiorpartition wall 25a into baffle and duct means defining a path for theflow of grease vapors from the inlet 13 to, the outlet 19 in the mannershown by the arrows of FIG; 2 of the drawings. A lower curved'wall 21forms the lower wall of the duct from the inlet opening to the toroidalchamber generally shown at 22. It will be noted that the rearwardportion of the lower wall member 21 is curved at 23 and 24 to redirectthe grease vapors upwardly and then again downwardly within the toroidalchamber 22. An upper curved baffle member 25 forms the upper wall of theduct from the inlet opening 13 to the toroidal chamber 22 and serves todirect the initial flow of grease vapors downwardly toward the toroidalchamber 22 from the inlet 13. The side wall 15 and an inner partitionwall 25a form the side walls of the ducts and the toroidal chamber 22.The upper wall or baflle member 25 is removable from the rest of thesheet metal housing as shown by the dotted line position of FIG. 2 andis slidably received in the supporting groove structures 26 and 27 wheninserted in place in the housing. By removing the slidable upper wallmember 25 from the housing, it may be easily cleaned and access may beobtained to the interior of the inlet duct to clean the lower wallsurface 21. It will be noted that therear end of the upper wall member25 is shaped as shown at 28 to contact the heated cylindrical surface 30within the toroidal chamber 22 and thus cause the grease vapors to flowwith a circular counterclockwise motion in the direction of the arrowsaround the heated cylindrical surface 30.

The heated cylindrical surface 30 is substantially coaxially positionedwithin the toroidal chamber 22 and as more clearly shown by FIG. 3 ofthe drawings, is provided with an interior burner assembly which has agas burner assembly comprising coaxial burner structure havingcylindrical metallic components including an outer fine mesh screen 31,an inner coarse screen 32 and a central perforated support cylinder 33.A venturi tube 34 conveys a mixture of gas and air from the gas nozzle35 and the air inlet opening 36 to. the interior of the burner screenfrom which the combustion gases escape through the perforations of thesupport cylinder 33 to be burned on the surfaces of foraminous screens31 and 32. A spark ignition wire 37 is mounted on an insulated bushing38 and extends through the aperture 39 of the heated cylindrical surface30 into close proximity with the burner assembly which is electricallygrounded. When it is desired to ignite the burner, a pulse of electriccurrent is fed to the spark electrode 37 to produce a spark between itsspark tip 40 and the adjacent cylindrical burner assembly thus ignitingthe gaseous fuel. One or more openings as shown at 45 to 51 are providedon the heated cylindrical surface 30 to permit the products ofcombustion to escape into the flow of grease vapors within the toroidal:chamber 22 to be passed therefrom to the housing outlet as will belater described in more detail.

It should be understood that various conventional control arrangementsmay be provided to supply the pulse of electrical energy to the ignitionwire for igniting the burner and to control the flow of gas to the gasnozzle 35. Also such control arrangements may include thermocouplecontrolled switches and other safety devices in arrangements that willbe obvious to those skilled in the art and, since they form no part ofthe present invention, these control circuits and arrangements will notbe described.

Interior walls 55 and 56 form a duct extending from the toroidal chamber22 to connect with the opening 57 in a lateral partition wall 58. Theopening 57 communicates with the duct 59 formed by the side wall of fanhousing 60 to the inlet opening 60a of the scroll 61 for the blowerhousing in which the blower fan or impeller 62 is rotatably positionedto be driven by the electric motor 63. The housing outlet 19 connectswith the outlet of the scroll of the blower fan 62 so that when theblowers motor 63 is energized and the fan or impeller member 62 is beingdriven, the grease vapors and products of incineration will be drawn inthrough the inlet 13 and through the toroidal chamber 22 to the outlet19. The electric motor 63 for the fan will also be energized by anysuitable control circuit and is of course, preferably operative onlywhen the cylindrical surface 30' within the toroidal chamber 22 isheated.

Air for cooling the motor 63 within the compartment 64 is passed inthrough the screen 20 and some of this air passes through the aperture65 (see FIG. 1) in the interior wall 58 to be drawn into the venturi airinlet 36 for mixing with gas from the gas nozzle 35 to form thecombustible fuel for burning on the bumer screens 31 and 32.

It is believed that the operation of the grease incinerator apparatusshould now be obvious to anyone skilled in the art. It will be notedthat the grease vapors entering the inlet 13 are preferably caused toflow downwardly first in the direction of the arrows of FIG. 2 of thedrawings to the toroidal chamber 22 where they are then redirected againupwardly and again downwardly to impinge upon the heated cylindricalsurface 30. The products of combustion escaping through the vent holessuch as the aperture 51 together with the burned residue of the greasevapors then pass from the toroidalchamber 22 in the direction of thearrows through the opening 57 and the compartment 59 to the inletopening 60 in the scroll of the blower 62 and from there are blown outthrough the outlet opening 19. It has been found that the provision ofthe blower to positively move the grease vapors in the directions shownby the arrows through the toroidal chamber 22 assures the impingementand incineration of all of the grease particles in the grease vapor onthe heated surface 30 to thus reduce the grease particles to a harmlessincinerated non-combustible form which is primarily gaseous or vaporousand which is then drawn by the blower through the outlet opening 19 tothe subsequent ventilation ducts.

Various modifications will occur to those skilled in the art. Forexample, other forms of blowers or fans may be provided, it beingunderstood however, that the preferred arrangement would position thefan adjacent the outlet 19 so that the fan blades are not exposed to thegrease vapors prior to their incineration.

We claim as our invention:

1. A grease vapor incinerator comprising, a housing through which greasevapors are to be passed and having an inlet opening and an exhaustopening, bafile and duct means in said housing defining a toroidalchamber between said inlet opening and said outlet opening for impartinga circular motion to grease vapors passing from said inlet opening tosaid exhaust opening, power fan means in said duct means on thedownstream side of said toroidal chamber for positively moving greasevapors from said inlet opening through said toroidal chamber towardssaid exhaust opening, a member having a cylindrical surface positionedsubstantially cocoaxially within said toroidal chamber, means comprisinga foraminous burner surface coaxially mounted within said member, meansto convey combustible fuel to said foraminous surface, the surface ofsaid member being provided with at least one opening therethrough forthe passage of products of combustion from said burner surface containedtherein whereby grease particles in the vapor passing through saidtoroidal chamber are directed by the walls of said chamber toward theheated generally cylindrical surface and impinging on the heated surfaceof said member are caused to be incinerated.

2. A grease vapor incinerator comprising, a housing through which greasevapors are to be passed and having an inlet opening and an exhaustopening, baffle and duct means in said housing defining a toroidalchamber between said inlet opening and said outlet opening for directinggrease vapors from said inlet first in a downward direction and thenwith a circular motion upward and again downward and then to saidexhaust opening, power fan means in said duct means on the downstreamside of said toroidal chamber for positively moving grease vapors fromsaid inlet opening through said toroidal chamber to- Wards said exhaustopening, a member having a cylindrical surface positioned substantiallycoaxially within said toroidal chamber, means comprising a foraminousburner surface coaxially mounted within said member, means to conveycombustible fuel to said foraminous surface, the surface of said memberbeing provided with at least one opening through its surface for thepassage of products of combustion from said burner surface containedtherein whereby grease particles in the vapor passing through saidtoroidal chamber are directed by the walls of said chamber toward theheated generally cylindrical surface and impinging on the heated surfaceof said member are caused to be incinerated.

3. The invention of claim 2 in which said baffie and duct means includesa bafile surface removably secured in said housing above said inletsurface and having a downward curved surface adapted to be positionedwithin said housing behind said inlet opening to direct grease vaporsdownward to said toroidal chamber when said baffle surface is secured insaid housing.

4. A grease vapor incinerator comprising, a housing through which greasevapors are to be passed and having an inlet opening and an exhaustopening, baffle and duct means in said housing defining a toroidalchamber between said inlet opening and said outlet opening for directinggrease vapors from said inlet first in a downward direction and thenwith a circular motion upward and again downward and then to saidexhaust opening, power fan means in said duct means adjacent saidexhaust opening for positively moving grease vapors from said inletopening through said toroidal chamber towards said exhaust opening, amember having a cylindrical surface positioned substantially coaxiallywithin said toroidal chamber, means comprising a foraminous burnersurface coaxially mounted within said member, means to conveycombustible fuel to said foraminous surface, the surface of said memberbeing provided with at least one opening through its surface for thepassage of products of combustion from said burner surface containedtherein where by grease particles in the vapor passing through saidtoroidal chamber are directed by the walls of said chamber toward theheated generally cylindrical surface and impinging on the heated surfaceof said member are caused to be incinerated.

5. The invention of claim 4 in which said baffle and duct means includesa baffle surface removably secured in said housing above said inletsurface and having a downward curved surface adapted to be positionedwithin said housing behind said inlet opening to direct grease vaporsdownward to said toroidal chamber when said bafiie surface is secured insaid housing.

6. A grease vapor incinerator comprising, a housing through which greasevapors are to be passed and having an inlet opening and an exhaustopening, baffle and duct means in said housing defining a toroidalchamber between said inlet opening and said outlet opening for impartinga circular motion to grease vapors passing from said inlet opening tosaid exhaust opening, power fan means in said duct means on thedownstream side of said toroidal chamber for positively moving greasevapors from said inlet opening through said toroidal chamber towardssaid exhaust opening, a member having a generally cylindrical surfacepositioned Within said toroidal chamber, means comprising a burnermounted within said member, means to convey combustible fuel to saidburner, whereby grease particles in the vapor passing through saidtoroidal chamber are directed by the walls of said chamber toward theheated generally cylindrical surface and impinging on the heated surfaceof said member are caused to be incinerated.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS JAMES H. TAYMAN, 111., PrimaryExaminer.

1. A GREASE VAPOR INCINERATOR COMPRISING, A HOUSING THROUGH WHICH GREASEVAPORS ARE TO BE PASSED AND HAVING AN INLET OPENING AND AN EXHAUSTOPENING, BAFFLE AND DUCT MEANS IN SAID HOUSING DEFINING A TOROIDALCHAMBER BETWEEN SAID INLET OPENING AND SAID OUTLET OPENING FOR IMPARTINGA CIRCULAR MOTION TO GREASE VAPORS PASSING FROM SAID INLET OPENING TOSAID EXHAUST OPENING, POWER FAN MEANS IN SAID DUCT MEANS ON THEDOWNSTREAM SIDE OF SAID TOROIDAL CHAMBER FOR POSITIVELY MOVING GREASEVAPORS FROM SAID INLET OPENING THROUGH SAID TOROIDAL CHAMBER TOWARDSSAID EXHAUST OPENING, A MEMBER HAVING A CYLINDRICAL SURFACE POSITIONEDSUBSTANTIALLY COCOAXIALLY WITHIN SAID TOROIDAL CHAMBER, MEANS COMPRISINGA FORAMINOUS BURNER SURFACE COAXIALLY MOUNTED WITHIN SAID MEMBER, MEANSTO CONVEY COMBUSTIBLE FUEL TO SAID FORAMINOUS SURFACE, THE SURFACE OFSAID MEMBER BEING PROVIDED WITH AT LEAST ONE OPENING THERETHROUGH FORTHE PASSAGE OF PRODUCTS OF COMBUSTION FROM SAID BURNER SURFACE CONTAINEDTHEREIN WHEREBY GREASE PARTICLES IN THE VAPOR PASSING THROUGH SAIDTOROIDAL CHAMBER ARE DIRECTED BY THE WALLS OF SAID CHAMBER TOWARD THEHEATED GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL SURFACE AND IMPINGING ON THE HEATED SURFACEOF SAID MEMBER ARE CAUSED TO BE INCINERATED.